


of aberration

by mechup



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: (yes AGAIN. the Doctor is nothing if not predictable), Other, accidental dates, manipulation bc the Master's disguised, the Doctor falling in love with the Master before he realizes he's the Master
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:22:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28949610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mechup/pseuds/mechup
Summary: When the Doctor gets alerted about a temporal anomaly near Coal Hill School, he goes undercover to find what’s causing it.
Relationships: Eighth Doctor/The War Master (Jacobi)
Kudos: 4
Collections: Fiftieth Masterversary Big Bang





	of aberration

He always ends up back at Coal Hill. This time it was entirely by coincidence; the TARDIS had found an temporal anomaly in the area and alerted him, so naturally taking a job as a professor is the only valid option. 

He walks into his designated classroom, getting settled in the few minutes he has before class starts. He takes a piece of chalk and starts writing when he hears the door open. 

“I heard there was a new supply teacher,” comes the voice of the person at the doorway. The Doctor turns, sees a white haired and bearded person smiling at him. “Hello.”

“Hello!” The Doctor beams, putting down his chalk for a moment and walking over, hand outstretched. “John Smith.”

“Matthew Yana, but you can just call me Yana.” He reaches out his own hand to shake the Doctor’s. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh! You have a very strong grip, Yana,” the Doctor laughs in surprise, having not expected that. Yana simply smiles. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too! What do you teach?”

“Science,” Yana answers, before glancing at the board the Doctor had been writing on. “And you’re history.”

“Yes!” the Doctor says happily. “It’s an easy subject to teach wrong but lucky for these kids, I’m always right.”

“Lucky them, indeed,” Yana says with an amused expression, and suddenly he looks so familiar that the Doctor feels he _must_ have met him before, but he can’t seem to place him. 

“Sorry, do I... do I know you?” he asks with a frown. 

“Not before now, no,” Yana smiles. 

“Right... well, maybe you just have one of those faces.” The Doctor knows from experience what it means to have a face like that, so he doesn’t press any further. “Was there something you wanted?”

Yana shakes his head. “No, I was just being nosy; I wanted to see who the new teacher was. But I’ll be out of your hair and let you get settled in.”

He starts to turn to head out but the Doctor stops him. “Wait, I was wondering if you’ve noticed anything... weird lately?”

Yana turns back to him and pauses to think. “Not that I can recall. Why? What sort of thing are you wondering about?”

“Nothing in particular, it was just a general wonderance.” The Doctor waves his hand nonchalantly, as if it doesn’t really matter. “But if you _do_ see something out of the ordinary, please let me know.”

“Of course.” Yana offers him one last polite smile, then exits the room and leaves the Doctor by himself. 

The day is uneventful for the most part. Actually, one of the students had to be sent home early for trying to start a fight with another student, but in terms of searching for the cause of the temporal anomaly... it’s been uneventful. He bumps into Yana, literally, on his way out of the classroom, and ends up on the floor before he knows what’s happened.

“Oh!” he says, startled, scrambling to pick up the books he’d dropped. “I’m sorry!”

“I should be the one apologizing,” Yana says with a laugh, bending down to pick up some of the books as well. He holds his hand out for the Doctor to help him to his feet, who accepts it. “Are you all right?” 

“Yes, I just wasn’t looking where I was going. I’ve got rather a lot on my mind at the moment.” The Doctor shrugs, taking the other books from Yana. “Thank you, Yana. Where are you off to now?”

“I was simply planning on going home. And what about you?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I’m not the biggest fan of making plans ahead of time. Probably the same as you.” 

“Right,” Yana answers, then glances back at the Doctor. “Unless... you’d like to come for dinner?”

“Dinner,” the Doctor repeats, then actually considers it. While there are things that need his attention, they aren’t pressing matters. The anomaly isn’t going to get any worse, so he figures won’t be a life or death situation if he doesn’t spend all his time working on it. Besides, it’s only his first day here. He sincerely doubts it’ll be _that_ easy, he won’t be able to fix it overnight. So he nods, “I’d love to!”

Yana’s place is fairly close, and they arrive in almost no time at all. He lets them in, and guides the Doctor to the kitchen. “Make yourself at home.”

“Lovely place you’ve got here,” the Doctor comments, despite having no idea whether it’s lovely or not. He really needs to get out a bit; the only decor he’s seen recently is his own in the TARDIS.

“Why, thank you!” Yana says, pulling the door to the fridge open. “You can wait in here if you’d like, I’ll—”

“No, I’ll help!” the Doctor interrupts quickly, not about to pass up the opportunity to cook. “I’m excellent at cooking!” 

Yana looks doubtful for a moment, and the Doctor doesn’t know if he should be offended, but he gets handed an apron. “All right, then.”

The Doctor slips it on, and watches as Yana takes out ingredients. “What are we making?”

“Nothing too special. Penne alla vodka,” Yana answers, setting everything they need on the counter. He starts up the stove, and they begin.

The Doctor, just as he had said, turns out to be an amazing cook. Saying Yana is impressed is an understatement and the time passes really quickly, much quicker than it would have if he didn’t have the Doctor’s company. 

“This is perfect, if I do say so myself,” the Doctor comments proudly once he takes a bite. Yana can only nod in agreement. 

“You are something of a puzzle, John.” He takes a sip of the wine he’d poured. The Doctor had said yes when he was asked if he wanted a glass, but considering he hasn’t touched any of it, Yana believes he was only being polite. “Why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

“Well. What do you want to know?”

“How long have you been teaching?”

“Oh, I couldn’t even begin to guess. I’ve been doing it on and off for a very long time.” 

“I’m somewhat the same. Never thought I’d end up a teacher, to be honest, but I suppose I could be doing worse things.”

“Do you not enjoy it?” The Doctor considers him curiously. Yana seems like the kind of person who the Doctor would assume likes being a professor.

“Let’s just say I’m not overly fond of children.” He waves it off and turns the question around. “What about you? Do you enjoy it?”

“Oh, yes! I love it. I don’t think I could do it consistently or forever, but I do like it whenever I have to,” the Doctor explains. He doesn’t think he could do _anything_ forever, except traveling and helping people. “Is there anything else you’d rather be doing instead?”

“I’m like you, I think. I don’t want to do it forever.” He holds the Doctor’s gaze, continuing on when he’s sure the Doctor has no idea he knows _exactly_ what he’s saying. “ I’d rather experience as much as I can in the world.” 

“Yes, I understand perfectly! I’ve never been good at staying in one place for long.” The Doctor can’t stop his thoughts from thinking about it — the possibility of asking him to travel with him. He doesn’t have anyone at the moment, and he and Yana just seem to _connect_. He barely knows him, but it somehow feels like he’s known him for ages. He clears his throat before his thoughts can wander too far, and the conversation moves on. The rest of dinner runs smoothly, only further proving how spectacularly the two of them get along. 

“I’ll be off, then,” the Doctor says, already walking to the door, before he can do something reckless like tell him he’s an alien with a space time machine. “It was lovely tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow at school, I expect?”

“That, you will. Goodnight, John.”

“Goodnight, Yana!”

* * *

It’s been about three weeks, and the Doctor is still not having any luck. No other occurrences of the anomaly have happened since that first one, but he doesn’t think it’s over; something about the atmosphere is undeniably wrong and he refuses to leave until he gets to the bottom of what’s going on here. So he treks back to Coal Hill every day, searching for something that will help him figure this out. Today, he heads to Yana’s classroom when he enters the building, a habit he’s gotten into during his time here. 

Yana beams at him as he opens the door, and gestures for him to come over and sit down. “John!”

“Good morning, Yana,” the Doctor smiles as he makes his way across the room. He sits in front of the desk, opposite Yana. “How are you doing today?”

“Very well, thank you. I’ve been preparing an exam for the students.”

“Oh! Is that it?” the Doctor asks eagerly, glancing at the pile of papers in front of him. Yana nods. “Can I try it?”

“Be my guest,” Yana says with mirth, sliding the papers across the table to the Doctor. The Doctor manages to complete it in record time and he slides it back over to Yana, who looks through it. “Congratulations, full marks!”

“Science is one of my specialties. Among quite a lot of other things,” the Doctor grins. He glances up at the clock and stands up. “I have to start heading to my classroom or I’ll be late.”

“When _aren’t_ you late?” Yana asks, and the Doctor gives a lighthearted frown but isn’t able to dispute the claim. 

“I’ll see you for lunch?” the Doctor asks, though he doesn’t wait for a response before he moves to the door because he knows he will; they’ve started up something of a habit of spending their breaks together. 

“Actually, John,” Yana calls, and the Doctor turns back to him. “I just remembered — I did experience something a tad bit odd this morning.

“Yes?” The Doctor steps towards him, forgetting all about having to get to class on time. Yana leans in, like he’s about to tell him a secret. 

“Right before I got in. Things went all... weird,” Yana explains. The Doctor leans in even closer in anticipation, his attention now fully caught. “I’m not quite sure how to describe it, but it felt as though something changed. In the air. But everything was back to normal a moment later, almost like nothing had ever happened. I’m not sure if this is helpful or if anything even happened, but...” 

“No, no, no, no, no, that’s perfect!” The Doctor grins and excitedly takes Yana’s hands in his own, pleased that he finally has _something_ to help him stop whatever’s causing the anomaly. “That’s exactly the sort of thing I want to know, thank you!”

“I’m very glad I could help,” Yana tells him, not making any effort to extract his hands from the Doctor’s. 

The Doctor stares at him for a moment, his eyes flickering between Yana’s before they drop to his lips, and he begins leaning in before he realizes what he’s doing. There’s just something about Yana that’s magnetic, and he feels himself caught in his natural pull. He gives Yana time to say no but no objection comes so he closes the distance between them, vaguely aware that he can’t remember if the door to the classroom is locked or not. 

He quickly forgets all about it because Yana’s hands are now cupping his cheek, just as gentle as his lips against his own. He loses himself in the sensations, in how familiar, inevitable it is. He hadn’t known he was going to kiss Yana until he was already leaning in but now it seems obvious this was always going to happen, right from the moment they met. 

It feels like eternity before they break apart, and the Doctor unwillingly moves back. He awkwardly runs his hand over his face in an attempt to compose himself as he wills himself to stop blushing. He’s still struggling to catch his breath, and Yana gives him a sort of fond, amused expression.

“Well,” is all the Doctor says, because he knows if he said more he’d end up stammering and making a fool of himself. He ends up doing so anyway, “I, well, I— I should, you know. I should go, I have— I— a class. I have a class. To teach.”

“Of course,” Yana says, his voice full of amusement that the Doctor doesn’t catch as he rushes out of the room.

art by Jennie, on [tumblr](https://fatalcookies.tumblr.com/) & [ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FatalCookies/pseuds/FatalCookies)!


End file.
